Saturday, July 30, 2016

Happy almost Sunday! We have a new challenge over at The Outlawz challenge blog. And this week we are celebrating Mutt Day. So Deb has asked us to use a dog on our CAS card.

This card has a very strange story. Thursday evening I went
to make my card for this week only to discover that I didn’t have any dog
stamps. Not one stamp of a dog. I was shocked, but I know I have digi
stamps of dogs, so no problem. We’d had a big storm that day and our Internet
was down along with our Wifi so I discovered I wasn’t able to print anything.
Hmmm, no stamps and can’t print. Truly a dilemma! I keep a file of images that
I’ve printed but haven’t used that I often forget about. Surely I had printed
off a dog at some point, right? I went through the file and found birds, fish,
mice, frogs, etc. And way at the back of the file was this one lone doggie. I
can hardly believe that it was that difficult to make a dog card! So I actually
made a stencil with Paper Smooches Paw Print die and I stenciled the paws on
the front and the back of the card with Rusty Hinge distress ink. Then I
colored and fussy cut the dog image and then used adhesive to place it on the
card. That’s it. How about that for CAS. It took me longer to find a dog stamp then it did to make the entire card! I love the paw prints. They look so
cute running over the card.

I just think the card I made for this post is so fun. It;s my first ever spinner card. It's already been mailed out to someone. They have goats and I thought he'd like this birthday card.

I didn't have to do a lot of coloring on this image. This is Woolleys from Scribbles Designs.

My sentiments are from a retired set of Gina K Designs called Funny Farm. The dotted designer paper is from Recollections Home Basics Paper pad. Fast becoming my favorite go to paper. Lots of fun colors and designs. I matted everything with black card stock on a green card base. The cloud is from Spellbinders Sunny Days both the die cut and the stamp. The Woolleys image was die cut with Gina Marie Designs Rectangles and the sentiment with Spellbinder Standard Large Circles. The inside is cool also.

When you open the card the sentiment in the middle spins. I used my computer to generate this sentiment. I found the sentiment "You're a wonderful reason to celebrate" and I changed it to fit my these. The sentiment above is from GKD Funny Farm and the sheep is Woolleys again but I just used the bottom sheep. There you have my first spinner card and it was such fun to make.
My card is also posted over at the Scribbles Design blog. You should check out the other guest designer's work. Her style is very different than mine but I love it.
Lots of fun images in the Scribbles Designs Store. Check them out too.

Thank ewe for checking in with me today. I hope you have a fabulous weekend!
I am entering these challenges:

Welcome to my very last post as a guest designer for Bugaboo Stamps. Today over at the Catch the Bug challenge blog we have the last challenge of July: a recipe. Use three strips of paper, use distressing and a tag.

I used AKV Santa - Tree, which was a Friday Freebie so you might have this stamp. I cir cut Santa with a Quick Cutz Tag die. I colored the image with colored pencils. The three scraps of tree designer paper came from my scrap box and I distressed the edges. ( I haven't used my distressing tool in forever and it felt good to get it out and use it again.) The sentiment is from a retired set from Flourishes called Christmas Music. And I finished it off with a red ribbon in the tag. I hope you will check out the rest of the design team inspiration at Catch the Bug and then join us for some fun. Time is running out to get Bugaboo stamps at a reduced price: 50% off.

Thanks for stopping by today. I'll have a few more scheduled posts in the next day or two. We are traveling for some family events, including a baby shower for the twins. Woo Hoo! Have a wonderful weekend!

Friday, July 29, 2016

Happy Friday! My guest designer fun for Bugaboo Stamps is
coming to a close. But I have a few more cards to share with you before the end
of the month. Today and every Friday Bugaboo offers a freebie digital image. The
image today is just too cute and I have to put it together on a card.

Such a perfect summer image called Summer Butterfly Bear - Beach. And sis I say that he's free this week? What a wonderful reason to stop by Bugaboo Stamps. Love the beach ball and the
cute swimsuit and the color combination I used. Here’s the details of what I used.

Don’t forget about the 50% off sale at Bugaboo. It’s only
good until the end of the month. There are so many cute images. I found one
just the other day that I’d never seen before and I had to have it. Stay tuned
I’m going to use it on a card very soon!

Thanks for stopping by. Hop over the Catch the Bug blog too see all the designers fun projects with the Friday Freebie.

I colored the image with Bic markers. I used Spellbinder's Tear Drop Circles to die cut the image and I inked the embossed dots with Salty Ocean distress ink. The three flags in the background are scrap pieces from my scrap box. I believe they are from the Paper Studio. I de cut them from MFT Pierced Fishtail Flags. I am entering these challenges:

I hope you will join us this week for our wings challenge over at the Outlawz CAS. We'd love to see what you create! I am still in baby mode as the twin's first baby shower is next weekend. One blanket and one bib done and on of each to go yet. I am working on bib number 2 and Tuesday I'll need to hit the yarn shop for the yarn for Arthur's blanket. It's all coming too fast. And July is coming to an end. Yikes! Hope you find some time to relax and enjoy. Have an awesome week!

Friday, July 22, 2016

Happy Friday! I have another design team project over at Imagine That! Creative Playground today. I still have babies on my brain as my daughter asked me to make the "thank you" cards for the baby gifts. So I kept it simple so I could mass produce these cards. When mass producing a card I start by finding a design that I like and I test it out to make sure that everything will work out the way I want it.

I actually did several iterations of this card before I got the right balance of the images being the correct size and the sentiment fitting the banner. The image is the pre-colored version of the baby cribs from Imagine That! Little Blessing Stamp set. I die cut the cribs with Spellbinder's Lacy Squares and used Spun Sugar and Salty Ocean distress ink to ink the edges. The sentiments I created on my computer because I couldn't find a thank you sentiment that I thought fit with twins and I cut the sentiment from MFT Pierced Fishtail Flags. And I had to use the gorgeous plaid paper from Imagine That! Sweet Pastels Digi Paper. I love that paper!

So if you decide to mass produce a card, here are some of the things that I do. I've already said that I create my prototype the way I want it to look. Then I try to do each step all at one time. So I print all my images and sentiment out after I decide how many I will need. I die cut them all at one time and I assemble each part for all the cards at once. Kind of like an assembly line method. I find that works much easier and seems to be faster from start to finish.

Wednesday, July 20, 2016

The image is Cupcake Tower colored with Bic markers. I fussy cut image and popped it up with foam tape. The sentiment is from Create with TLC. I used an ek Success punch to punch out the sentiment and used distress inks to color the sentiment. I love the colorful card! The background is embossed with Argyle embossing folder. My card is for International Cake Day. You can check out all the fun and humorous cards at Catch the Bug. Don't forget that Bugaboo Sale. The entire store is aon sale at 50%off.

Thanks for stopping by today. Have a wonderful Wednesday and take care!

Besides using the new stamp set I also made a card for the challenge over at Imagine That! Creative Playground. This month we are looking for shaped or fancy fold cards. Still plenty of time to play along as the challenge doesn't close until August 5th. Here is my card using a fancy fold.

I colored Raymond and his frogs with colored pencils and Copic markers. The designer paper is from Imagine That! Digis by Kristy called Beach Combers Digi Paper. The fold is a Triple Easel Card. I used the tutorial at Beccy's Place to make this card. To help prop the parts of the easel I used a sentiment from Raymond' Frogs and popped it up with foam tape. For the side panels I used button that kind of look like rocks and I attached two of the frogs onto the "rocks." Such a fun card to make and very easy to do. I hope you will play along with the challenge this month at Imagine That! Creative Playground. Be sure to "hop" on over to the Creative Playground! blog to see if you are winner of Raymond's Frogs.

Well, I need to get back to baby things. Tricia's shower is coming up and I need lots of crochet time between now and then. So I may be missing a bit around here except for design team projects but I'll be back soon. Hugs to you all!

I used three of Sandy's images on my card: the pumpkin, Hoot the Owl, and the sunflowers (a freebie, really the image is the sun but I turned it into sunflowers LOL!). The background is Spellbinders brick embossing folder inked with Fired Brick distress ink. I mounted that to a yellow card base. The images were colored with Copic markers and fussy cut and then added to the background. Hoot and two of the sunflowers are popped off the card with Scotch foam tape. So I have a start on my fall cards. Amazing, it's only July. I hope you'll join in the fun challenge and let's see how your garden grows. Thanks to Sandy and Lisa for inviting me to be a guest designer. And don't forget to visit Scribbles Designs and check out all the fun images.

Good morning to you! The weekend has . arrived and I hope you are feeling merry and bright! Today a new challenge begins at Catch the Bug blog. Today begins the Bingo challenge!

Oh what fun! I love doing these types of challenges. So here is my card.

Did you think it was going to be red, white and blue? I am kind of stuck on Christmas in July. So I used yesterday's Friday Freebie calle Rudolph Presents. Click on the link and go download it for free. He's just too cute! I added a Memory Box Winterland Tree all decorated with pearls, gold Stickles and a star. Rudolph is colored with Copics and has a red Stickles nose. I added a sentiment from a company that is no longer in business. So I used the third column down: pearl, star and glitter. I hope you'll come join the fun at the Catch the Bug challenge.

Friday, July 15, 2016

Happy Friday! I can't wait until the weekend is in full swing. I'm looking forward to some crafting time I hope. Today I have a special post over at Imagine That! Creative Playground. Kristy asked me to be part of the design team and I said "yes." So today is my first post for Imagine that! Digis by Kristy.
Some of you already knew that my daughter and SIL are expecting twins and last Sunday they held a "reveal" party at our house. So I made a few things for the occasion. First off is a centerpiece for the table.

I hand drew the question mark on foam core board and cut out with an exacto knife. I then traced the foam core onto Imagine That!'s Sweet Pastel Digi Paper. I used the plaid paper because I am so into plaid these days and the colors were perfect. I covered the foam core front and back. Then adhered the question mark to the candle. I created two treat boxes using the Sweet Pastels Digi Paper and the Baby Boy Digi Paper. You can find the pattern for the baby bottle treat boxes at Maria's Inspired and Unscripted blog. I used the pre-colored digis from Little Blessings to decorate the front and back of the bottle treat boxes. Here's a closer look at the baby bottles.

I also created a card for the occasion.

The sentiment (which is so totally adorable!) is from the Little Blessing stamp set. I'd bought this Gina Marie Designs Quilt die several months ago and had never used it. And since I LOVE this plaid paper so much (did I mention that?) I had to use it with this die. So I used the Sweet Pastel Digi paper again to create this card. I punched the sentiment out with an ekSuccess punch and inked it with Peacock Feathers distress ink.
Here's the sets I used:

So now that I showed you the decorations I suppose I should tell you the big "reveal!" The twins are a boy and a girl. Baby A is Arthur Alexander and Baby B is Valerie Renee. I am busy crocheting baby blankets and whatever else I can get together before they are born. June 30th was my last full time day at work. I'm just working 2 days a week now and when the babies are born I'll be retiring completely to help with the twins. What could be better than a full-time grandma! I'm looking forward to it. Happy Friday! Thanks for stopping by and I hope your weekend is awesome!

I love planning which row or column I'm going to do and then making it work on my card. Here's what I came up with.

The image is of course from Bugaboo called Little Penguin Winter - Winter Bench. I colored the image with Copic markers and embellished it with Grape, Diamond and Gold Stickles for some sparkle. I die cut the image with MFT Inside and Out Rounded Squares. The designer paper is from Hobby Lobby on a black card stock base. My sentiment is from The Crafty Nomad (which has turned into a sewing blog). I punched out the sentiment with an ek Success punch and embellished with Grape Stickles. I hope you will check out all the fun challenges this week at Catch the Bug Christmas in July and don;t forget the huge sale going on at Bugaboo Stamps. 50% off the entire store. It's a great time to treat yourself to some new digis!

So our reveal party was really nice tonight. The weather was beautiful and we held the party out on the driveway. Last time the cake revealed the gender of the baby. This time they had scrolls. Each scroll was the color for the gender and also revealed the name of the baby. So we have a baby boy and girl coming. We'll have Arthur Alexander and Valerie Renee. So now that we have names and genders I can get busy crocheting and buying things like grandma's do. LOL!

Sunday, July 10, 2016

Guess what the new CAS challenge is this week at The Outlawz? Christmas in July! Seems to be a favorite topic this month. So if you participate in the Bugaboo challenge and make it CAS you can enter it at The Outlawz too. A two fer one special. Our sponsor this month is Craftin' Desert Divas so I used one of their images.

Thanks for stopping by. Tonight is the "reveal party" for the twins. Not only do we find out the gender but also the babies' names they've picked out. Looking forward to it. I'll let you know all the news tomorrow. Have an awesome Sunday!

Saturday, July 9, 2016

Happy Saturday! I've been MIA this week working and getting ready for the "reveal" party. Sunday my daughter and SIL are going to announce the gender of the twins and what their names will be. They have the party at our house so I have to do the cleaning and cooking. So that's what's up for tomorrow and Sunday. Mostly I just have to make salads as we are doing a cook out. Grandpa will be manning the grill.
Today begins one of my favorite challenges over at Catch the Bug Challenge blog. The sixth annual Christmas in July: a whole week of fun challenges with wonderful prizes to be had and a special new set just for the week. Be sure to hop over to Catch the Bug for all the details.

I wanted a really colorful card. The background paper is called Bokeh from Decosse's Dynamite Doodles. I colored the Snow Friends Window with Copc and Bic markers. The window is popped up from the base. I made a ticket from the sentiment which is from Create with TLC and then inked the ticket and sentiment in and ombre style using Spun Sugar, Abandoned Coral and Picked Raspberry distress ink. I found some snowflakes in my stash to add to the card.
I am entering these challenges:

I hope you will join us for today's snowmen challenge and stayed tuned all week for a new challenge every day. Some awesome prizes could be yours if you play along. Thanks for stopping by today and come back tomorrow for more Bugaboo fun. Oh, and don't forget the Bugaboo sale.

Friday, July 8, 2016

Hello! I'm popping in to let you know that the deadline to win the prizes offered up in the A Taste of Summer Blog Hop has been extended. You now have until July 15th, at 11:55 p.m. EDT, to get your comments added and your name linked up if you want a chance to win the full kit and the 1 year subscription to the Through the Craft Room Door on-line crafting magazine.

Don't know what I'm talking about? Click HERE or scroll down to find the original post and read all about it.

Tuesday, July 5, 2016

Today I have the honor of participating in a blog hope for Lisa Decosse of Decosse's Dynamite Doodles. Lisa asked me to use a spectacular new kit that she created for Through the Craft Room Door Magazine. It's the first time Lisa and I are being published so I am truly honored that she asked me to participate. Read the details below and win some fabulous paper from the kit or even the entire kit. Each of the stops on the hop will be giving away different prizes so don't forget to visit them all.

For a chance at winning the Bonus Glitter Papers section of this kit...

Simply leave a comment on this post and be a follower of my blog!

You have until 11:59 p.m. EDT on Friday, July 8th, to submit your

comments for a chance to win one of the above mentioned prizes.

For my stop along the hop, I am excited to share the project I created for the magazine.

Check it out: I made two cards with Lida's dynamite new Taste of Summer Kit.

The background paper is from the Textured Paper pack and is embossed with a honeycomb embossing folder. Iused the sun image from the Elements section of the kit and die cut the image with Spellbinder's Picot Edge Circles. The sentiment is from Create with TLC printed on another color from the Textured Paper pack and edged with MFT Dainty Lace Borders. To finish off the card I added three brads from the Brads, Buttons and Bows section to match my sentiment paper.

My second cards makes me long for a day (or two or three) at the beach. The designer paper is from the Glitter Paper pack. The wave, splashes, flip flops, sunglasses, and sunscreen are from the Elements pack. The sentiment is from a retired Gina K summer stamp TV kit called Enjoy the Sunshine. The designer paper sections are popped away from the white for added texture to the card.

Hiding in my Craft Room Challenges

the Alley Way stamps

Digital Delights by Louby Lou

Part Time Tuesday Challenge

The Cuttlebug Spot

CAS(E) this Sketch

Clearly Inspired Challenge

Stamp TV

Scor-Pal

About Me

I am a mother of three and married to the love of my life. My hobbies include papercrafting, crocheting and cross stitching. I love to make cards. I am soon to be a grandmother to twins, a boy and a girl.